


Hello/Goodbye

by frostings



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Reality, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 09:08:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3062117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostings/pseuds/frostings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Amell isn’t conscripted into the Grey Wardens</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello/Goodbye

She arrives with the rest of Fiona’s mages after the incident at Redcliffe, part of that sad, ragtag team loosely called the rebellion. She is thin and wan, lips chapped and dry. She sits quietly with the Grand Enchanter and the other senior Enchanters as Cullen briefs them on what constitutes as acceptable behavior in Haven. She does not say anything, even when the other Senior Enchanters raise doubts about their safety in the midst of all these other templars. But Solona’s always been quiet; that’s what he remembers about her (smiles across the library, a sweet slipped through his fingers, writing on glass on a snowy morning).

He hears about her story in a roundabout way, and it’s like all the stories he’s heard: a year in Aeonar for helping her friend, subjected to demons and Maker knows what. She didn’t come back to the Tower, and it’s followed by service in the King’s Army, where the rebellion finds her. She takes as many apprentices she can and runs, runs, until she finds other people.

He watches her out of the corner of his eye; he’s good at that. She takes it upon herself to train the apprentices, to teach them the basics of focus and meditation. Madame Vivienne has mentioned more than once that the proximity to the Breach left even the most seasoned of mages open and vulnerable to the whispers of demons. It’s almost an accusation, but Amell says nothing to this, and sometimes he sees her late at night, tutoring an apprentice, a flame flickering in between cupped hands, teaching him to focus.  _Let your will control the fire, don’t let it feed it; that’s how you lose control._

When he informs her that she will be among those to support the Inquisitor to close the Breach, she simply nods, and asks that the Inquisition look after the apprentices, should anything happen to her.

He feels awkward then, wondering if he should say more, anything other than her marching orders. But what is there to say? The years had not been easy for either of them, and it’s an abyss that he cannot hope to cross.

Yet she crosses it anyway. She leans over and touches his gauntleted hand, ever so gently. “I’m sorry about the Tower, Cullen.”

He looks up, and Maker, she’s so close, but she is so sad.

“I’m sorry they wore my face,” she says.

_Look at what they did to me. Look at what they did to us._

_————_

Then, hope flickers again, faintly, in his heart. The Breach is closed. Maybe old hurts can be allowed to heal, after all.

He finds her in the merrymaking that follows and he says: “Hello.”

“Hello,” she says, and it’s just like the first time.

But the bells ring, and the Templars have come.

He tries to stop her, but she runs off into the night for her apprentices. He has no choice but to look after his own people, as the lights come closer, as he prepares for battle.

The attack hits them swiftly, a tide crashing on a rocky shore. The Templars hit them relentlessly, powered by some corrupt force, and Cullen fights with everything he has, until it becomes too clear that they are overpowered.

“Fall back! Fall back!” but as he shouts, there is another wave of archers getting ready. Then: a sudden storm whirls over the Templars, and Amell is there, standing like a beacon in the darkness.

He calls out to her, but his voice is drowned out. He calls her name, but the wind takes it away. She looks back at him, and she smiles.

That’s when the arrow first strikes. Then another, and another, and they all hit her with dull thuds. He’s screaming now, and someone is pulling him away. She is struggling to stand, and summons a lightning storm before she falls.

He loses her like the first time: With an ending before it even began.


End file.
